


everything good in life seems to lead back to you

by xenorosis



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cassunzel Week 2020 (Disney), F/F, Flower Crowns, Language of Flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25436509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenorosis/pseuds/xenorosis
Summary: Cassandra comes home and things have changed. Rapunzel hopes it's for the better.Written for Cassunzel Week! The prompt was "new beginnings."
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	everything good in life seems to lead back to you

Cassandra had been acting strange lately and Rapunzel wished she knew why. 

She had come back to Corona three days ago and they hadn't gotten to spend much time together. Rapunzel was busy helping restore the damage caused when they defeated Zhan Tiri and she didn't have the time to go looking for her. She thought Cassandra would have come to find her by now but she hadn't. Rapunzel was starting to get a little worried. 

When Cassandra was getting ready to leave after the fight against Zhan Tiri, Rapunzel had desperately wanted to ask her to stay. To keep her by her side and never lose her, not again. Not like she had lost her to the moonstone, to Zhan Tiri, to her own insecurities and fears. 

But Rapunzel knew she couldn't do that. She knew the feeling of being trapped, of needing the open air and the freedom that travel brought. 

So she let her go. And Cass came back, like she promised. 

Only things weren't the way Rapunzel had pictured. They weren't catching up like they had promised they would in their letters. Instead, it was as though Cass wasn't even in the kingdom, like she had never returned. 

Well, Rapunzel couldn't stand another day apart from the woman she loved, not when she was finally home after months of being away. 

She left Eugene with a kiss on the cheek after breakfast, leaving him with her parents to discuss the ongoing restorations of the kingdom. She had a best friend to find. 

Rapunzel started in the easy places first. Cassandra's old bedroom, untouched but clean thanks to the castle maids. They had agreed it would be left as is for whenever Cassandra returned to Corona. Rapunzel saw her travel bag and boots sitting neatly by her bed but the room was empty. 

She stopped by the Captain's house to ask if he had seen his daughter. 

"She stopped by yesterday," the captain said. "When she left she told me she was coming to see you."

"I haven't seen her at all since she got back," Rapunzel frowned. "I hope everything is okay. You don't think she's still mad at me, do you?"

The Captain gives her a smile. There's something in it that Rapunzel can't quite place. 

"She cares for you very much, Rapunzel. Never doubt that."

Rapunzel nods. "Thank you, captain."

"Of course. I'll send word if she comes back here."

Rapunzel leaves and decides to check with Xavier next. Cassandra might have needed a new weapon or had something for him to repair. 

She greets the townspeople as she passes by, always happy to see them. Part of her knows her smile isn't as genuine, isn’t as large as it usually is. Her worry about Cass is growing, and it shows as she picks up her pace. 

Xavier tells her he hasn't seen Cassandra either and wishes her luck on her search. Rapunzel checks at the tailor's where they laughed when Rapunzel tried on dresses and at Attilla's bakery where they split their desserts. 

Cassandra isn't there. 

Rapunzel finally gives up when the sun starts setting. Soon it'll be too dark to search at all. Her eyes trace her feet as they drag in the dirt and her fingers twist together. Why can't she find Cassandra?

Her thoughts are twisted as she thinks through what happened before Cassandra left. Rapunzel didn't remember her being upset or angry. Did she miss something? Did she remember wrong?

Maybe it was naive to think things would go back to normal so easily. 

Head in the clouds and eyes in the dirt, it was kind of inevitable that she would bump into someone. Rapunzel lands on the ground with a thump, already looking up to apologize. 

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was—Cassandra?"

And it is her. Cassandra, with her beautiful wavy dark hair–shorter than Rapunzel remembered it being–and her pale skin. Her cheeks are flushed now and she's scrambling to pick up the yellow flowers scattered around them. 

"Cassandra, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Cassandra doesn't look at her, tucking all the flowers back into an orderly bunch in her hands. 

"Cass?" Rapunzel calls her name again, hesitant this time. She prays she hasn’t ruined it, that what they once had isn’t irreversibly broken. 

Cassandra stands, shoulders hunched up by her ears. One hand reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Rapunzel longs to reach out and do it for her. 

"Hi, Raps."

"Have you been avoiding me?" Rapunzel keeps her fingers from brushing at Cassandra’s hair by brushing the dirt off her skirt instead. She tilts her head to look at Cass with a questioning eye.

"No!" Cassandra's shoulders sag, drooping like the flowers in her hands. "Maybe… Yes."

Rapunzel frowns, hands twisting in the fabric of her skirt in lieu of her long hair. "Is… is there a reason why?"

"Kind of? I just… I'm no good at this kind of thing." Cassandra rubs a shy hand down the back of her neck. 

Rapunzel smiles. Cassandra being shy wasn't something she was used to, but it was endearing. 

"That's okay! I'm not surprised, you've been gone for months. We can talk back at the castle though, it's getting really dark."

"That's not really what I mea–"

Rapunzel loops one of her arms around Cassandra's and starts walking. 

"We'll talk inside! I promise."

Cassandra can't help but follow, one arm linked with Rapunzel's and the other cradling her flowers. She watches Rapunzel talk about what she and Eugene did yesterday with a fond smile. 

She's missed this. 

……………….

True to her promise, they sit down to talk over dinner. When Rapunzel asks Friedborg to take the flowers, Cassandra pulls them closer to her. 

"No! No actually, these… these are for you."

Cassandra held them out for Rapunzel to take. Her eyes dart from her feet to the windows, never staying in one place and never looking at Rapunzel. It’s like she's nervous. 

"They're daffodils. Sorry they're kind of, well, ruined, because of earlier, but yeah. For you."

She's blushing now, her pale cheeks tinged pink. Rapunzel finds she rather likes it when Cassandra blushes; pink is a good colour on her.

"Cassandra! They're perfect. Thank you."

Rapunzel holds the flowers close. Cassandra is right, some of the flowers were flattened and are missing petals. Rapunzel doesn't care. Cassandra isn't the flower-giving type, she knows, but she got flowers just for her. Rapunzel's heart feels too big for her chest and she can’t stop the smile that spreads across her face. She doesn’t even try. 

She turns to the table to set them in a vase Friedborg has helpfully supplied. With her hands empty she's free to hug Cassandra like she's longed to for months. 

"I love them." Rapunzel whispers with Cassandra's arms around her. She hopes her actions convey the words she's too scared to say just yet.

_I love them and I love you._

……………….

They spend the next few days together and it's easy. Familiar. 

Rapunzel's worries about things being different weren't entirely unfounded. They can still talk and laugh like they used to but there are moments where Rapunzel can't help but stare when Cassandra laughs, admiring the curve of her lips. There are moments when Rapunzel is talking and she glances at Cassandra to find her staring. Then Cassandra glances away, cheeks tinting a now familiar pink. 

It's strange, the floaty feeling Rapunzel gets when she links her hand with Cassandra's to pull her along as they walk the streets of Corona. Cassandra never protests at the contact. Sometimes she gives Rapunzel's hand a little tug, pointing out something new or something she had missed while she was away. 

All of it is new and different and strange and Rapunzel finds she doesn't really mind. 

……………….

Her mother comes into her room a few days later to find her pressing one of the last daffodils into her journal. This one is new, one she started right after Cassandra left. She's been keeping all the letters and other things Cassandra sends her tucked safely inside. In the last few days she's recorded some of Cassandra's journeys too. The flower is yet another memory the two of them share, kept forever in the little brown journal. 

"Is that a daffodil? It's beautiful." Arianna commented, sitting next to her daughter on the bed. 

Rapunzel hummed in agreement. "Cassandra gave me a whole bouquet."

Arianna raised an eyebrow. "Cassandra gave you daffodils?"

Rapunzel looked up from her journal. "She did. Why?"

Arianna shook her head. "It's an interesting choice of flower, that's all."

At Rapunzel's puzzled look, she elaborated. "I've got a book I think you might like. Let me go get it for you."

Arianna returns with a beautifully decorated book. The cover is soft fabric, hand painted with detailed flowers. The title reads _Flowers and What They Mean: A Guide by Willow._

Rapunzel gasped. "Aunt Willow?"

"She gave it to me years ago. She liked to document the flowers she found as she travelled and when she learned people had meanings for them, she recorded that too. I think you'll find it interesting."

"Thanks, mom." Rapunzel gives Arianna a quick hug and settles down, lying on her stomach, to read. Arianna leaves her to it with a quick kiss on the forehead. 

Rapunzel flips through the pages until she finds one with a bright, detailed drawing of a familiar yellow flower. 

_Daffodils are bright yellow flowers. Symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings, the daffodil is virtually synonymous with spring. A gift of daffodils is said to ensure happiness. But always remember to present daffodils in a bunch – the same legends that associate this cheerful flower with good fortune warn us that when given as a single bloom, a daffodil can foretell misfortune._

"New beginnings and happiness," Rapunzel murmured to herself. "Oh, Cassandra!"

Rapunzel turned so she was laying on her back and stared at the paintings on the ceiling as she thought. Cassandra was leaving again the next day. If Rapunzel worked quickly, she might be able to put her plan into action. 

……………….

She just barely makes it. 

They eat breakfast together and then Cassandra leaves to visit her father before her journey. Cassandra is mounting Fidella when Rapunzel comes running into the courtyard. 

"Cass! Wait!"

Cassandra looks up with a smile, pulling her foot out of the stirrup to catch Rapunzel in a tight hug. 

"Glad you made it." 

"Of course," Rapunzel smiles. "Can't let you leave without saying goodbye."

Cassandra notices she's holding something. A crown of flowers, carefully woven together. 

"Is that for me?"

Rapunzel nods. "Yellow daffodils for new beginnings and pink asters for love."

Cassandra freezes, her eyes wide. "Rapunzel…"

"You're right, this is our new beginning. After everything that's happened, after everything we've been through, we get to start over. And I want to do this right."

Rapunzel steps forward so she can set the crown on Cassandra's head. She lets her hands hover for a moment and then gently cups Cassandra's face. 

"I love you, Cassandra. I love you so, so much."

She presses her forehead to Cassandra's. Cass is crying now, quiet tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hands grip Rapunzel's shoulders, like she’s scared to let go. 

"I'm here," Rapunzel soothes, wiping away her tears. "I'm here and I love you."

Cassandra smiles and her hands slide to Rapunzel's waist, drawing her close. "I love you too, Raps."

Cassandra tilts her head and kisses her. Rapunzel closes her eyes and the jittery feeling that something was not-quite-right that had been resting in her chest since Cassandra's return dissolved into a warmth that blanketed her. The odd moments from the last few days fell neatly into place and for the first time since before Cassandra had taken the moonstone, things felt right again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Titles from the song "Exist for Love" by Aurora. The paragraph about daffodils and their meaning was taken directly from [this website](https://www.teleflora.com/meaning-of-flowers/daffodil). The meaning for aster flowers was found [here](https://www.teleflora.com/meaning-of-flowers/aster).
> 
> Check out the other art pieces and fics created for [cassunzel week](https://cassunzelweek.tumblr.com)! They're all brilliant.


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